Today's news highlights:
Report: 51 countries/regions prohibit crypto assets, with some economies regulating through legal adjustments or re-legislation
Binance will launch PHAUSDT and DFUSDT with 1-75x USDT perpetual contracts
Hamster Kombat will build an L2 blockchain on the TON chain
FLock announces token economics and airdrop plan: 66.7% allocated to the community and ecosystem
ai16z founder: There is no need to imitate ai16z; innovative fields like 'making money while sleeping' are worth exploring
Today's Fear and Greed Index dropped to 65, a new low since October 15
In December, DEX trading volume exceeded $320 billion, and CEX spot trading volume reached a new high since May 2021
Data: Bitget has destroyed 800 million BGB through 5 addresses, valued at approximately $5.2 billion
Regulation/Macro
Mining company Rhodium sells Temple Bitcoin mine for $40.6 million, co-CEO resigns
According to The Miner Mag, Bitcoin mining company Rhodium Enterprises completed the cash sale of its mine located in Temple, Texas for $40.6 million. The company's co-CEO Nathan Nichols announced plans to resign in early 2025. Previously, the company's creditors had sued him and co-founders for fraud. Rhodium stated that it repaid $16 million in debt owed to Galaxy Digital from the sale proceeds and plans to restart its mining machine hosting business at the Riot Rockdale facility. The auction for the mine was won by Temple Green Data LLC, which is associated with Rowan Digital Infrastructure but did not acquire the mine's Bitcoin mining equipment. Additionally, the court ruled that Rhodium's hosting contract with Riot's Whinstone US remains valid, allowing Rhodium to continue operations at the Rockdale facility.
Report: 51 countries/regions prohibit crypto assets, with some economies regulating through legal adjustments or re-legislation
According to the China Financial Stability Report (2024), global regulatory efforts for cryptocurrencies continue to intensify, with 51 countries and regions having enacted regulations prohibiting crypto assets. Some economies are regulating by adjusting laws or re-legislating. The report specifically mentions Hong Kong's progress in cryptocurrency compliance, with its 'dual licensing' system covering both security and non-security tokens. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the listing of a Bitcoin spot ETF in January 2024, but the SEC chairman stated that this does not mean the SEC approves or endorses Bitcoin products, warning investors to treat Bitcoin and other crypto-linked products with caution, emphasizing their potential risks.
The chairman of the German Free Democratic Party calls for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to be included in central bank reserves
According to Handelsblatt, Christian Lindner, chairman of the German Free Democratic Party (FDP) and former finance minister, has called on the European Central Bank (ECB) and the German Federal Bank to include cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in their reserves. He mentioned that the U.S. government is taking an aggressive approach to crypto assets and is studying whether the Federal Reserve should include cryptocurrencies in its reserves. Lindner stated that Europe needs to avoid being surpassed by the U.S. in this area and suggested reviewing the inclusion of crypto assets as part of reserves in Frankfurt to enhance the resilience of the reserves. He emphasized that crypto assets have become an important component of global wealth growth.
Project Dynamics
Binance will launch PHAUSDT and DFUSDT with 1-75x USDT perpetual contracts
According to the official announcement, Binance's contract platform will launch perpetual contracts at the following times, with a maximum leverage of up to 75x: December 30, 2024, 19:30 (UTC+8): PHAUSDT perpetual contract; December 30, 2024, 19:45 (UTC+8): DFUSDT perpetual contract.
Hamster Kombat will build an L2 blockchain on the TON chain
According to official news from Hamster Kombat, its DAO community has completed voting on the second proposal, deciding to build the Hamster L2 blockchain on the TON blockchain. The official stated that this technological foundation will serve its largest Web3 community globally and promised to immediately start development work to bring more good news as soon as possible.
FLock announces token economics and airdrop plan: 66.7% allocated to the community and ecosystem
According to official news from FLock, with the token generation event (TGE) approaching, FLock announced its token economics and airdrop plan: a total supply of 1 billion tokens, of which 66.7% is allocated to the community and ecosystem, and 5% (50 million tokens) is for rewarding early users and the community, including trainers, validators, delegators, model users, and partners. Users participating in the airdrop must meet eligibility criteria, such as model store users needing a score of over 300, verifying at least one social account, and holding Ethereum or Base mainnet assets; AI arena users must earn at least 1 FML (testnet token). The platform uses IP address detection to prevent duplicate users, and violations will result in reduced rewards. After the airdrop, FLock will launch the mainnet model, encouraging users to participate in training and validating to promote the platform's development.
Opinions
Matrixport: Bitcoin usually experiences a brief consolidation period after a rapid buildup, followed by a possible continuation of a bull market
According to Matrixport data, Bitcoin is currently digesting the surge from the past few weeks, with its open interest rising from $18 billion in October to $29 billion, an increase of 50%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin funding rates surged from 10% to a high of 80%. Historical data shows that this rapid buildup usually leads to a brief consolidation period, followed by a possible continuation of a bull market. Analysts believe this pattern may reappear, especially in the context of quiet market trading during the Christmas holiday. Investors are turning their attention to the new year, hoping for new capital inflows to drive Bitcoin prices higher.
'Godfather of AI' warns of a 20% likelihood of human extinction due to AI in the next 30 years
According to The Guardian, Geoffrey Hinton, the 'godfather of AI' who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for AI research, warned that the probability of AI leading to human extinction in the next 30 years is between 10% and 20%. He pointed out that the speed of AI technology development 'far exceeds expectations', and AI systems that surpass human intelligence may be difficult to control. Hinton called on governments to strengthen regulation of AI technology, believing that relying solely on the profit motives of companies cannot ensure the safe development of AI. He emphasized that many experts in the AI field predict that AI systems more intelligent than humans will emerge within the next 20 years, posing a significant threat to humanity. In contrast, Yann LeCun, also considered a 'godfather of AI' and chief scientist at Meta, held a different view, believing that AI might save humanity from extinction.
ai16z founder: There is no need to imitate ai16z; innovative fields like 'making money while sleeping' are worth exploring
ai16z founder Shaw posted on X platform stating that there is no need to imitate their projects, as there are many unexplored fields worth trying, emphasizing that innovation and bold attempts can bring greater potential returns. In response to the question of 'which areas people hope to expand into', he suggested focusing on projects that allow people to 'make money while sleeping', tools that help save time, and new forms of expanding existing applications or websites to social media.
Important Data
In December, DEX trading volume exceeded $320 billion, and CEX spot trading volume reached a new high since May 2021
According to The Block data, the monthly trading volume of decentralized exchanges (DEX) in December reached a historic high of $320.5 billion, surpassing the $300 billion mark for the first time, breaking the previous record of $299.6 billion set in November. Among them, Uniswap led with a trading volume of over $103 billion, followed closely by Pancakeswap with a monthly trading volume of $72 billion, and Raydium on Solana ranked third with $54.6 billion. Analysts pointed out that many popular crypto assets (such as AI-related tokens) are traded only on DEX, and the rise of some projects like Hyperliquid indicates that listing on CEX is no longer a necessary condition for achieving high market value. Additionally, CEX's spot trading volume in December also reached its highest level since May 2021, totaling $2.78 trillion, with Binance contributing nearly $950 billion, while Crypto.com, Upbit, Bybit, and Coinbase also processed hundreds of billions in trading volume. Analysts believe that the surge in trading volumes for both DEX and CEX reflects a recovery in market activity, driven by recent increases in volatility, enhanced trust in the DeFi ecosystem, and improvements in liquidity and trading tools on CEX.
Today's Fear and Greed Index dropped to 65, a new low since October 15
According to Alternative data, today's Fear and Greed Index dropped significantly to 65 (yesterday it was 73), and the market remains in a 'greedy state', marking the first drop below 70 since October 24, and a new low since October 15.
Data: Bitget has destroyed 800 million BGB through 5 addresses, valued at approximately $5.2 billion
According to @ai_9684xtpa monitoring, Bitget destroyed a total of 800 million BGB through 5 addresses in the past hour, with a total value of approximately $5.2 billion. Previously, it was reported that Bitget would destroy BGB worth over $5 billion, accounting for 40% of the total supply.
A trader invested $3,400 in AIXBT in November, gaining over 3,500 times return, currently valued at $12 million
According to The Data Nerd monitoring, the address '0xgalahad.eth' exchanged 24.566 million $AIXBT tokens for approximately $3,400 on November 4, subsequently adding liquidity and not selling any $AIXBT. Its estimated investment return is approximately $12 million, achieving a return on investment of 3549 times.
CryptoQuant CEO: Bitcoin as SoV, total stored capital valuation reaches $1.03 trillion
According to CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju's estimates, combining on-chain and off-chain data, the total stored capital in the Bitcoin network grew by 85% this year to $1.03 trillion. The estimation methods include: 1. Off-chain transactions: calculating capital flowing into the market through exchange reserves multiplied by VWAP (volume-weighted average price). 2. On-chain transactions: tracking capital inflow from over-the-counter (OTC) and exchange on-chain activities using realized market cap. The above data forms the 'Store of Value Index' (SoV Index), reflecting the capital storage level of Bitcoin in the network.
MakerDAO's monthly revenue and captured fees both hit historic highs
DeFiLlama data shows that MakerDAO captured fees of $39.52 million this month, with monthly revenue reaching $25.96 million, both hitting historic highs. The protocol has captured a total of $555.68 million in fees and generated $384.95 million in revenue. Notably, on December 9, the single-day captured fees reached $1.67 million, with revenue of $1.18 million, setting a single-day peak; that week, captured fees reached $10.61 million, with weekly revenue of $7.05 million.
